Dodgy estate agent practices revealed

Posted: 21 Mar 2006 11:48:34 GMT

BBC reporters have unveiled the 'dirty tricks' estate agents use to go about their business in the London area.

Reporters Anna Clarke and Emma Clarke went undercover for the BBC One programme Whistleblowers to reveal a plethora of misdemeanours and malpractice.

Estate agents used fake signatures, misled surveyors on property's values and engaged in 'flyboarding', the practice of putting signs up at houses that are not for sale.

"I got a shocking glimpse inside this largely unregulated industry," Anna Clarke writes on the BBC website.

"During the investigation I saw the depths to which some agents will sink to get a deal - not only offering a house and a mortgage, but also a fake British passport."

The Office of Fair Trading is launching the Ombudsman for Estate Agents Company Limited's code of practice in an attempt to improve the operations of estate agents in their dealings with buyers and sellers.


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